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Kelly Ripa Shares How She Really Feels About the College Admission Scam

Live With Kelly and Ryan tackles trending topics in pop culture on a daily basis, so it’s not surprising that Wednesday’s episode of the morning show addressed the massive college admissions scam that came to light the day before. Kelly Ripa reacted to the college admissions cheating scam news, which involves actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin and reportedly 48 other people who were charged with various crimes, including paying bribes to help get their kids accepted into elite universities. A mother of three older teens, Ripa pretty much hit the nail on the head with her insight.

“Let me tell you something. As a parent who has gone through this process twice so far, test-taking is a nightmare. It is so exhausting… for the student, for the parents, for everybody involved. Particularly if you are my kids’ tutor, I would think it would be exhausting for you as well,” said Ripa, who shares three kids — Michael, 21, Lola, 17, and Joaquin, 16 — with husband Mark Consuelos. “You look at this and you go, ‘If you have the money to afford a tutor, you already have an advantage.”

Ripa also made a pretty salient point about the type of message this scandal sends to young people.

“I’m so glad this scandal broke after my kids when through [the college application process] because I know my daughter would have been like, ‘Hey, can you call that man?’” she admitted. “The whole thing is a shame and it’s robbing the kids the chance for them to achieve [getting in] on their own.”

Bottom line? Ripa suggests if your kid can’t get in on their own to a particular school, they should perhaps follow a different path.

“I want to say this without saying this the wrong way. […] Maybe you’re not supposed to go to this elite college if you cannot get in on your own merit,” she noted, carefully phrasing her feelings. Ripa, who didn’t go to college, then explained that her family couldn’t afford tutors and, since she desperately needed the help, she wouldn’t have made the admissions cut.

Even though she’s clearly done well for herself, she doesn’t want that fact — or this scandal — undermine the value of education and/or hard work when it comes to succeeding in life.

“I didn’t go to college, so I always feel weird saying this,” Ripa added, continuing, “And it’s a tightrope line I walk with my kids all the time because they’ll look at me and be like, ‘But you didn’t go to college.’ But this is all good luck and hard work.”